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Chic New Suites at Maine's Camden Harbour Inn

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The Camden Harbour Inn may look like another balconied Victorian bed-and-breakfast from the outside, but don't be fooled: Dutch co-owners Raymond Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest are taking Maine's hotel scene in a new direction. Don't believe us? Check out these first-look photos of the two new suites they unveiled this summer.

In short, they've gone deluxe. And when Brunyanszki says he's toned down the Euro sleekness and South Beach pop with a hint of "New England warmth," to some extent he means it literally. Each of the two new suites comes with its own steam shower and sauna and radiant floors, and the larger of the two, the Royal Dutch, has two gas fireplaces.

This 20-room property is a year-round hotel, after all. Camden doesn't go into hibernation in colder months quite as fully as many other popular seaside Maine towns do. It's got a little ski area that hosts the very popular annual Toboggan Championships, and other reasons to brave the cold. (Brunyanszki says he likes to make design decisions in winter, because it helps remind him to keep things colorful.)

Each suite has its own iPad, and a flat-screen TV in every room. The two Jacuzzi tubs that have come with them required the addition of new internal support beams. These improvements are the big news for now, but perhaps not for long. The owners would like to add onto the existing 1874 building or acquire a waterfront annex across the street. "We're definitely going into that conversation this year," Brunyanszki says. His goal is 30 rooms, a swimming pool, and a full-service spa—basically, he told me, a "modernized version" of that frequently name-dropped Connecticut retreat, The Mayflower, within five years. The will to invest in that vision certainly seems to be there.